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Wilmot glanced at Simon Fraser, the chairman of the Heritage Classic Foundation and for all intents and purposes the tournament's current guardian, then stated plainly and confidently that this year's Heritage would not be the last.
With this week's revelation that the Heritage has not yet secured a spot on next year's PGA Tour schedule -- and that tournament organizers must assure the tour they have the $5.9 million necessary to cover the event's purse and television contract to ensure it stays on the schedule for a 43rd consecutive year -- Wilmot's pledge has retroactively rankled some feathers.
But it's hard to fault him for saying exactly what everyone needed to hear.
Wilmot didn't intend to mislead anyone with his media day announcement that the tournament would be back at Harbour Town Golf Links in 2011 "without question."
He believed it, and he meant it.
And he still does.
"What am I going to say, that we're not going to have a tournament in 2011?," Wilmot said Friday. "We're committed to do everything in our power to have an event, and that was my point."
Like just about everyone else in the room, it was hard for Wilmot to imagine April in the Lowcountry without the Heritage. It was simply a foregone conclusion in most minds that some company would recognize the value in being aligned with the event that helped transform Hilton Head Island into a premier golf destination.
You might recall Wilmot wasn't the only one singing a reassuring song last spring. Rick George, the PGA Tour's chief of operations, stood in the media center Tuesday of tournament week and said the tour had "every intention of being back here in 2011," only a slightly softer assurance than Wilmot's media day pledge. And the players lined up one by one to sing the tournament's praises and state their confidence that it not only would survive but flourish.
So the fact it has gotten to this point is a surprise to most everyone involved. And even though several contingency plans are on the table for discussion, the only long-term solution to keep the tournament going strong is a commitment from a title sponsor.
That's a difficult thing to negotiate without a guarantee the show will go on in 2011 and beyond.
"We don't have anybody even nibbling right now," Wilmot said. "There's a bunch of conversations going on, but we haven't even gotten to any negotiations or had anybody talking about pro-am spots or whatever. I'm waiting for that day."
After talking with Wilmot at length Friday afternoon about the state of the sponsorship search, I got the sense he would still put good odds on finding a way to put on the Heritage in April.
"Is there a chance that we won't? Yeah, I guess so," Wilmot said. "But we're not giving up."
The fact is Wilmot and his staff can't afford to dwell on the possibility that the tournament's days might be numbered. They have to wake up thinking every day will be the one that yields a sponsorship deal.
The irony, Wilmot realizes now, is his optimistic outlook might have hampered the tournament's future by leading supporters in the community to believe the situation was less dire than they thought.
Now that the seriousness of the situation is out in the open, he's hopeful some things will begin to shake loose and fall into place.
"We still believe in it," Wilmot said, "and we're doing everything we can."
That's what he was trying to say all along.
